China's Ministry of Culture said here Tuesday that it did not ban British rock & roll band Oasis from giving concerts in the country.

"We have learned that the promoters of their concerts in China came across some financial problems," Sun Qiuxia, an official with the department of entertainment market under the ministry, told Xinhua over phone. "But we haven't received any formal document from the companies about canceling the concerts."

She stressed that the ministry has approved Oasis' two concerts, April 3 in Beijing and April 5 in Shanghai, and did not revoke them.

The concerts were cancelled because the company had some problems with cash flow, said a manager surnamed Luo with Beijing-based performing company Suoyou, one of the concerts' promoters, in Monday's Beijing Times report.

The promoters were working on a solution about how to refund those who had bought tickets, he said.

Reuters quoted the band in a Monday report as saying that their concerts in China were called off because Chinese authorities discovered band member Noel Gallagher had appeared at a "Free Tibet" benefit concert in the United States in 1997.

On the band's MySpace page, two China concerts were still on the list of the upcoming shows. Its official website www.oasisnet.com is not currently operational and visitors are redirected to the MySpace page.

Source: Xinhua